


In Little More Than A Year

by Immamausoleum



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angsty Crowley (Good Omens), Anxious Crowley (Good Omens), Ashtoreth is having a Hard Time, Crowley is Good With Kids (Good Omens), Hurt/Comfort, Kids say things they don't mean, Nanny Crowley (Good Omens), Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 18:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21462634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immamausoleum/pseuds/Immamausoleum
Summary: ”Fine! THEN I HATE YOU NANNY!! You’re the worst and I never wanna talk to you AGAIN!!” After shouting as loud as his little lungs could afford, the little boy had proceeded to run away from her to his bedroom, slamming the door behind himself. Ashtoreth had to hold herself back from pursuing the child, pause and breathe there in the hallway, feel the restrictions of her corset holding her together. She understands that it’s important for a child to know when he can step back from a situation and decompress- It's something that she taught him. This knowledge, it turns out, doesn’t make her ache any less.-Nanny Ashtoreth deals with the aftermath of a temper tantrum towards the end of her time with Warlock, and struggles with reconciling the boy she knows with the supposed destiny he is to lead. Is her child truly capable of ending everything she's ever known?-
Relationships: Nanny Ashtoreth & Warlock Dowling
Comments: 12
Kudos: 84





	In Little More Than A Year

”Fine! THEN I HATE YOU NANNY!! You’re the worst and I never wanna talk to you AGAIN!!” After shouting as loud as his little lungs could afford, the little boy had proceeded to run away from her to his bedroom, slamming the door behind himself. Ashtoreth had to hold herself back from pursuing the child, pause and breathe there in the hallway, feel the restrictions of her corset holding her together. She understands that it’s important for a child to know when he can step back from a situation and decompress- It's something that she taught him. This knowledge, it turns out, doesn’t make her ache any less. 

He’d given her the silent treatment that night as she’d come to tuck him in, hadn’t asked her to sing for him as had become their routine. She hadn't pressed, knowing that he would come to her on his own time, where any other adult may try to force his hand. Still, she knows this boy, raised him. He arrives later that night just as she'd known he would, and her door opens to reveal her sniffling child, looking up at her reproachfully. 

“Hello Warlock, I thought we weren’t on speaking terms? Is something wrong, dear?” She asks patiently, though she knows what’s wrong. She wants the boy to use his words, as she’d taught him to do in times of distress. An important thing for a young boy to learn is how to communicate his feelings in a way that is healthy to his development as a person.. Perhaps that shouldn't be her goal, she's supposed to encourage evil in him, after all, but she refuses to harm the childs psychological development to do so. 

"I d-don’t ha-hate you, N-Nanny... I’m s-sorryy.. I d-didn’t mean it! I c-could never h-hate you!” His small shoulders tremble with sobs as tears spill heavy over his cheeks, and Ashtoreth doesn’t hesitate to pull the boy close, shushing him gently. 

“Oh my child, I know you didn’t mean a word of it..You hurt me though, dear.. but I forgive you, you know I’ll alway*ss* forgive you.” she murmurs, fingers petting through Warlock’s silken hair, it will need cut again soon, she thinks, dropping a kiss upon his head. He’s too old to be acting like this, she knows. She also knows why he’s acting out in the first place, he’d overheard his father speaking of how he’s outgrowing a need for a Nanny.. But Nannies can’t stay forever, and Warlock hadn’t taken well to the idea when she'd reaffirmed she wouldn't always be able to stay. She despises the thought as much as the boy does, leaving him to his parents who could never understand him the way she does..

“Even if you meant what you said, I would still love you..” And damn her twice, it’s true. She could never hate this boy, her boy.. Gently detaching the crying childs arms from her waist, Ashtoreth kneels down, taking a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe up tears and snot from Warlock’s little face, allowing a soft smile. “You’re alright, see? Come, let’ss get you back to bed, I’ll sing as many songs as you like tonight.”   
“Okay.. And.. Nanny?” he asks softly, sniffling as he looks down. 

“Yes my pet?” 

“I love you too..” 

He’d made it halfway through the third song before he drifted into the realms of sleep, one hand holding hers in a lax grip as he breathes serenely, leaving the demoness to her thoughts..

“My little child..” Ashtoreth sighs, stroking the back of her hand tenderly along Warlock’s soft cheek, watching over him as he sleeps. “Hellssspawn… What will you do? When the time comes..?” She can’t truly imagine him bringing forth the end, tearing apart everything she holds dear.. No, not her child, dear Warlock who’d been inconsolable upon accidentally treading on a snail in the garden, just yesterday.. or was it a week ago? A month? It all goes so fast-… 

On days like this, she isn’t so sure…. seeing the rage and hurt at the injustices of the world in her boys eyes.. Despite the way he always runs weeping to her afterwards, seeking her forgiveness, tearstained face buried into the thick fabric of her coat, what of when his power is too strong? What of when his outbursts cause such irreparable damage that her forgiveness means nothing? What then? What will she do…? She will forgive him, of course, in the way only a mother can.. That’s never been in question. But what if, in his anger, what if she doesn’t-… Who will hold him? Wipe his tears and sing him to sleep? Certainly not his Father below.. All that Warlock has ever known will be gone, replaced with the massacre of the battlefield, the second wave of a War she knows all too well, and her Warlock will be all alone.. 

“Thisss cannot be what you intend… he’ss jussst a boy…” Ashtoreth whispers, hardly aware of the tears that drip from her cheeks, head bowed over the boys bed. “Pleasse.. didn’t we sssuffer enough, the firssst time..? Let thiss work…” In little more than a year, it will be Warlock’s birthday, armageddon.. For the first time in a long time, the demon prays.

**Author's Note:**

> Man... I just have a lot of feelings about Ashtoreth, I don't think this fandom treats her nearly as well as she deserves, if I have to fill her tag with non-sexualized Nanny content I WILL


End file.
